Interfaith is pretty awesome stuff.

Hey happy readers! (happy, of course, because your reading this amazing blog!):

This week is very exciting- it's the interfaith week at Nazareth College! I've been into the Interfaith community ever since this last April, when I heard Eboo Patel speak about the interfaith movement in America, and how this generation can either build bridges for future generations to understand each other; or else we can tear down love and create hostility.

I'll take option #1.

So basically I'm building bridges all this week (figuratively,) and it's been really awesome so far. The idea behind interfaith dialogue is not to accuse, criticize, or "shop" for religions (though you can do that if you want to, it's just not the reason we're here). The reason we are here is to bring all of our ideas to the table and foster understanding and destroy fear of the unknown.

Rules for interfaith dialogue

• We bring our full religious identity to the table

• We are here to gain understanding and build relationships, not to debate other's beliefs or defend our own.

• We assume good intentions

• We honor our own and others' experiences as valid

• We assume that others have no knowledge of our own perspective and take the time to explain.

We started the week out with Hinduism. Our teacher today was Dr. Raman. It was pretty amazing to hear about their beliefs in many gods which all encompass the belief in one god, one all powerful being who has no image but is extremely reverent. The hindus started off by praising this god who they had read about in these books called the Vedas- mantras and sacred verse written by "Rishis," or "sage poets". These people's origins are unknown, but they are believed to be prophets, and they wrote the canon which became Hinduism. We talked about the differences of Karma and Dharma, and about reincarnation and the life cycle. We didn't go into detail, but Dr. Raman talked a little bit about Brahma, the creation god; Vishnu, the god of sustenance, or life; and Shiva, the god of destruction.

We visited a Hindu temple. There, we removed our shoes, as you cannot wear shoes in the holy place. Then we went up to the worship space and looked at their beautiful statues and pictures. The altar was strewn with bananas and milk jugs, all offerings to the god(s). The food is donated to the poor after it has been offered.

The thing which I really loved about hinduism is the fact that they are taught to accept all religions, because they do not assume there god is only in one single place- their god could be found in my God. This really spoke to me. The fact that their symbols just represent something that they can grasp was also cool to me. They don't worship these vague representations of god- they worship the omni-present force which they believe in, something which isn't an idol or an icon. Human nature looks for something they can picture in their minds, and that is the singular purpose behind their statues and images.

Though it was a little foreign to see all of this and to learn about it, it was a good lesson in open-mindedness, something which is absolutely necessary to employ when it comes to interfaith. So here's to learning new things and accepting new ideas!

"Peace among religions is a precondition for world peace." -Swani Agnivesh

Rereading a classic

I love rereading classic books. They never get old, and every time you read them, they find a new meaning in your life. Currently I'm rereading Little Women, but instead of starting at the beginning, I went to a part I especially liked (though I love all the book, there are just some parts where you feel warm and fuzzy when you read them, like in any good book,) and I just started reading from there on. It's really fun, and it's good to do when your reading another book at the same time, because the stories don't conflict as much since you already know what's happening in one. And you can drop the classic whenever, and come back to it later, because it's merely for pleasure. I usually rotate from book to book on a daily basis, because then I get a little of each and I feel happy.
This is just one of the many joys of a bookworm.

I'm so happy, I'm shaking. A book I've been looking for for almost 6 years, and I finally found it!!!! It's called Journey to the Bright Kingdom by Elizabeth Winthrop. I tell you, tonight I was like, "I'll look again, because the internet is amazing and I'll find it!" AND I DID!! I had to search and search and look and look, but I found it!! And now I've put it on hold at the library. And I'm going to get it. It will be in my hand. After six long years I will read that book. God is wonderful.

Holes

I read a book over the last three days called holes. It was good, but some things didn't get explained in the end. I had seen the movie with my friend Hannah when it first came out in theaters a few years ago, and the book was a lot different, though the layout was practically the same.
I read the whole Harry Potter series again, too, but backwards. It was fun because you take in a lot more of the details you missed before. Aidan is also reading the Harry Potter series, but he's doing it the correct way and reading it from 1-7. Also, it's his first time.
Gotta go, more later.
Lucie

Ratatouille

I saw Ratatouille today. I enjoyed it immensely. I got all the cooking jokes, being a cooking fanatic. I recoginized ingredients they used, which made me feel 'acomplished.' and I very well should feel that way.

Ah, how long it has been!

Dance class report:
It's been an interesting week. Tuesday I was not to go to dance class, because the schedule was changing for summer. Instead it was to be on a Thursday. So both Hannah and I did not go, since we had both heard the same thing. We were, of course, surprised when we got a call telling us it had taken place on Tuesday. When everything was cleared up, it came out that kids had shown up on Tuesday because that's what it said in the program to do. Mrs. Reback, my teacher, of course had to teach them. It wasn't like she was not gonna have a class just because two students are absent. So the class went on.
When we found this out, though, and told Mrs. Reback, she told us to just come in Thursday at the time we had heard, which was in the one o'clock hour. So we did, and we got a private lesson. It was cool.

30th report:
Read this letter I sent to the town board. It'll all make since:
Dear Lucas,

Thank you for you email.

The decision to host the parade on a Saturday was done last year as well. Letters have been sent out and bands booked to march in the 2007 parade,. This is a highly competitive time to secure bands as so many parades are scheduled for town Independence Day parades throughout the County. However, we will certainly take your thoughts under consideration as we plan for 2008.

Have a good day.

Why was I called Lucas? Because I signed my name Lucia, and they did not read it properly. Duh.
So, now we are celebrating Independence Day on the 30th. Tomorrow we'll have friends over, go to the parade, and watch fireworks. I plan on having tons of fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See y'all later,
Lucas.

Flowers up the wa-zoo

We went to the lilac festival today, and it was amazing! I had an awesome time. More stuff about it at Lily's Dreamland.
Here's a picture I took myself, of the view. I thought it was pretty, and I'm pretty sure there are Lilacs in the foreground. They're silhouettes, though, so I can't tell. Enjoy!